For Teachers Grades 3-8

9 hours (Can be divided into 3 days)

In response to mandated statewide testing, this workshop uses drama as the foundation of an innovative, engaging approach that prepares students for testing without sacrificing the principles of how children learn best--through playful, interactive, cooperative activities. Join national arts education consultant Sean Layne to explore ways to develop students’ test taking skills and vocabulary as well as deepen their comprehension.

Session #1: Learn how to establish the cooperative learning environment necessary for the strategies in the following sessions to be effective. (3 hours)

Session #2: Examine how to integrate a simple drama strategy with reading test vocabulary and as assessment of countless standards of learning in many subject areas.
(3 hours)

Session #3: Combine the work of the previous sessions with various test-taking strategies to create an interactive, dramatic approach to test prep.
(3 hours)

Piloted with students in classrooms over the course of a year, this work capitalizes on the collaborative, differentiated nature of drama to build students’ understanding of the type, structure, and recurring vocabulary regularly included in questions on standardized tests. To the delight of administrators, teachers, and students, these strategies are fun, engaging,
and have resulted in higher student test scores in the pilot sessions.